Professor Naomi Chazan, a member of the Knesset (Israeli Parliament) from 1992-2003, and current Robert Wilhelm Fellow at the Centre for International Studies at MIT, spoke at U of T last Tuesday.
The title of the lecture was “Peace or Pieces: The impact of the US elections on the future of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict.”
“The fact that there were Arabs and Jews, old and young all coming out to see Chazan shows the diversity of views on these issues,” said Jonny Konig, an executive member of Jewish student group Hashomer Hatzair-Kidma on Campus, one of the organizations hosting the lecture. “But the fact that many agreed with her shows that she is accurate on so many of these issues too”.
“The Zionist challenge today,” said Chazan, “is the creation of a viable Palestinian state alongside Israel. The last three weeks have seen more changes in the parameters of the Arab-Israel conflict than any period in the past four and a half years [the duration of the Second Intifada].”
The three major events that have led to this time of “opportunity,” she said, are: The Sharon disengagement plan passing in the Knesset, Yasser Arafat’s death, and George W. Bush’s re-election. She said these changes offer some hope for the future but also danger.
Chazan called the Israeli disengagement plan from Gaza “a unilateral step by Israel… [that] has a coercive element to it… it is an exercise in conflict management, not in conflict resolution.” But she also told the audience that the fact that the plan is happening at all is at least a good sign.
Chazan called Arafat’s death “earth shaking”: “The January 9 elections for the successor of Arafat are extremely important to the future of the Palestinians,” she said. “And there are immense opportunities in that.
“Arafat provided an excuse [for Israel] for no negotiations, and his death removes that excuse,” she said.
On the re-election of George W. Bush to a second term, Chazan seemed to have mixed feelings. “Is there cause to worry? No doubt,” she said.
Chazan said that US foreign policy could change for better or worse during Bush’s second term in office.
“The Bush administration is headed in the direction of change on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict,” she said. “After the invasion of Iraq, one of the justifications was that the road to [peace in] Jerusalem goes via Baghdad. The United States… is beginning to realize that the road to quiet in Baghdad might go via Jerusalem.”
Sarah Nasser, Chair of International Affairs for the Students’ Administrative Council, responded to Chazan’s lecture. “She neglected the corruption within the Palestinian administration,” she said, “and she encouraged the democracy of that land without realizing that a lot of the leaders within the Palestinian community will want to become a leader in order to take control of the money, as apposed to helping the people out.”
Professor Chazan summarized her own points by saying that “If we do not take advantage of this opportunity for change… We will lose the opportunity for a viable two-state solution”.
